Background on Somalia - http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/...territories/somalia/index.html?inline=nyt-geo including these statements:
Somalia continues to be a caldron of bloodshed, piracy and Islamist radicalism. That volatile mix has spilled over its borders in recent years, but perhaps most intensely in July 2010, when bombings in Kampala, Uganda killed more than 70 civilians and shocked the entire country.
Somali Islamist insurgents — egged on, or possibly aided, by Al Qaeda — claimed responsibility for the attack. There are currently 6,000 Ugandan and Burundian peacekeepers in Mogadishu, but they are struggling to beat back the Islamist fighters, who are rallying around a group called the Shabab.
From the NYT of today ( http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/world/africa/10somalia.html?ref=todayspaper ):
Although Puntland is home to pirates and human-trafficking groups, it has also been largely insulated from the warfare that has ravaged Somalia in recent years, making it a relative haven for aid groups. But a recently announced alliance between an insurgent commander and Shabab militants has raised fears that militants could destabilize the region.
The warlord, Sheik Mohamed Said Atom, said last month that he would fight the Puntland government until it agreed to impose strict Islamic law.
Mr. Atom also declared that “we are members of the Shabab,” conservative Islamists who control much of southern Somalia and claimed responsibility for deadly bombings in Uganda in July.
...........
On Monday, the Shabab announced they were banning three Christian aid groups from their territory, saying the groups had been spreading their “corrupted ideologies in order to taint the pure creed of the Muslims in Somalia,” according to news reports from the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
Somalia continues to be a caldron of bloodshed, piracy and Islamist radicalism. That volatile mix has spilled over its borders in recent years, but perhaps most intensely in July 2010, when bombings in Kampala, Uganda killed more than 70 civilians and shocked the entire country.
Somali Islamist insurgents — egged on, or possibly aided, by Al Qaeda — claimed responsibility for the attack. There are currently 6,000 Ugandan and Burundian peacekeepers in Mogadishu, but they are struggling to beat back the Islamist fighters, who are rallying around a group called the Shabab.
From the NYT of today ( http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/world/africa/10somalia.html?ref=todayspaper ):
Although Puntland is home to pirates and human-trafficking groups, it has also been largely insulated from the warfare that has ravaged Somalia in recent years, making it a relative haven for aid groups. But a recently announced alliance between an insurgent commander and Shabab militants has raised fears that militants could destabilize the region.
The warlord, Sheik Mohamed Said Atom, said last month that he would fight the Puntland government until it agreed to impose strict Islamic law.
Mr. Atom also declared that “we are members of the Shabab,” conservative Islamists who control much of southern Somalia and claimed responsibility for deadly bombings in Uganda in July.
...........
On Monday, the Shabab announced they were banning three Christian aid groups from their territory, saying the groups had been spreading their “corrupted ideologies in order to taint the pure creed of the Muslims in Somalia,” according to news reports from the Somali capital, Mogadishu.